WASHINGTON — A federally appointed panel recommended greater disclosure and monitoring of the environmental effects of extracting natural gas from shale formations, marking the Obama administration’s first broad assessment of the controversial practice.

A coast-to-coast shale gas boom has raised concerns about the risks to underground water supplies from hydraulic fracturing, which involves mixing sand, water and chemicals and injecting them into shale formations at high pressure to unlock the gas.

Environmental groups and local residents and politicians in areas rich with shale gas have said that hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” could lead to contamination of the water table. The energy industry insists fracking is safe.

The report, issued Thursday by an expert panel appointed by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, is the first effort by the Obama administration to cut through the acrimonious debate about tapping vast natural- gas reservoirs held inside shale. It remains unclear whether the report, pulled together in 90 days at Chu’s behest, will calm the debate. It’s also uncertain if and how its recommendations would be implemented. The administration has not seen it yet. And given the political battles over the environment, little may go forward.

Still, the panel’s chairman, John Deutch, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President Bill Clinton, said he was optimistic about the report’s potential impact.

“Given the report’s tone and common-sense advice, it could influence industry and regulators’ attitudes,” Deutch said.

It offered something for almost every side, said some environmental groups and industry representatives.

“The report urges industry to come clean and for scientists and regulators to do their jobs,” said Benjamin Grumbles, president of the Clean Water America Alliance, an association of municipal water districts and private industry.

The report won over some industry observers by eschewing the view common among environmental groups that shale gas production is inherently dangerous.

A customer dining at Washington’s Oceanaire restaurant noticed an unusual line at the bottom of his receipt: “Due to the rising costs of doing business in this location, including costs associated with higher minimum wage rates, a 3% surcharge has been added to your total bill.”